One of the most notable consequences of the COVID-19 era has been the popularity of remote work. Whether it’s local people working out of their North Shore homes or Silicon Valley refugees working in Hawaii (or international destinations), digital nomads can work wherever there’s bandwidth.
The idea of remote work has always intrigued me, so when I had the opportunity to visit an old friend in Tahiti, I thought I’d conduct my own remote-work trial.
What better place to write a column for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser than Polynesie francaise?
In addition to the usual touristy things, it’s an ideal spot to brush up on your French, learn Tahitian and get thoroughly immersed in a Polynesian culture. With Teahupo’o Beach scheduled as a venue for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tahiti would appear to be a no-brainer for remote-working big-wave surfers.
Staying connected via cellphone with Hawaii was easy. T-Mobile, my Hawaii carrier, allowed for free texting and up to 5 gigs of data. At 25 cents a minute, calls were expensive, but I solved that with WhatsApp, a free service with excellent quality.
The online experience
The next step was to jump online with my laptop.
My friend had a DSL connection that ranged from mediocre to abysmal compared with my Spectrum account in Kaimuki. Often, I couldn’t even navigate a website without waiting what seemed to be an eternity, much less the time involved in downloading a large file. The best you could say is that retrieving email worked fine. (The local internet service provider is a division of the French Polynesia Post Office.)
The good news is that fiber is available for residential use, and it’s plenty fast. Before you make the move, I’d suggest you make certain that your future Tahiti home away from home has fiber. A one-day pass at Tahiti Coworking in Papeete (facebook.com/tahitico), which has fiber, runs around $25.
From what I observed, high-speed mesh networks for a home office were not available, so perhaps bring your own node. Monthly cost for fiber subscription, according to the post office website, www.vini.pf, is $54 a month (not counting the extra $30 you’ll be obligated to pay for a landline — whether you need it or not).
A bit arbitrary? Perhaps, but as in other island nations, public services are often used as profit centers. The monopolistic nature of island nation public institutions such as French Polynesia’s post office (which also operates as a bank) allows them to sometimes squeeze consumers in ways you wouldn’t expect from the USPS.
Tahiti sticker shock
Prospective digital nomads should be aware of the high cost of imported goods (and just about everything else) in French Polynesia.
Figure on paying about 40% to 100% more at the grocery store for any products brought into the country. A six-pack of (locally produced) Hinano beer is about $9, and wine is double or more what you’ll pay at Fujioka’s. (It’s no accident Tahitian visitors to Hawaii love to visit Costco.)
The silver lining is that locally harvested produce and fish are reasonably priced. Two pounds of fresh tuna at the Hyper U, the local equivalent of Safeway, was only around $5. (Of course, the price of fish will fluctuate.)
Compared with Honolulu, long-term condo rentals in Papeete (according to Airbnb) were affordable, starting as low as $1,100 a month. (Most places I saw advertised included Wi-Fi.)
The other good news is that health care, compared with other Pacific island nations, is quite good. You can thank the French for that.
What about the legalities of living in French Polynesia?
There is no “digital nomad visa” for French Polynesia, but according to the Tourism Tahiti website, U.S. citizens can visit for up to 90 days and work remotely without a visa, but “your passport must be valid for a minimum of three months after the return date.” To stay longer, you can apply “in country” for a longer-term visa.
Rob Kay, a Honolulu-based writer, covers technology and sustainability for Tech View and is the creator of fijiguide.com. He can be reached at Robertfredkay@gmail.com.
